The invention relates to a waterer with an essentially vertical water pipe, having at least one water valve, a mounting unit for mounting on an animal housing, grazing or feeding facility, and a height adjustment device for adjusting the distance between the ground and the water valve.
A known waterer of the generic type described is frequently mounted on bars partitioning an animal housing facility into several areas. The bars usually run horizontally and parallel to one another, and are positioned in a plane perpendicular to the ground.
The mounting unit of the known waterer is usually fitted with two U-bolts. The ends of the U-bolts are provided with threads. The two U-bolts are mounted at a distance from one another in parallel planes. The water pipe is placed in the open ends of the U-bolts. The side of the pipe facing the threads of the U-bolts rests against the bars of the animal housing facility. As a rule, the U-bolts are mounted close to the bars of the animal housing facility. The threads of the U-bolts extend beyond the bars. A clamping plate is provided which has holes for the purpose of being slipped onto the threads of the U-bolts. The clamping plate is secured by nuts, which are screwed onto the threads of the U-bolts. The water pipe, the bars and the clamping plate are positioned between the ends of the U-bolts and the nuts, and are braced against one another.
The disadvantage of this design lies in the fact that the clamping forces are only transmitted via small, nearly punctiform points of contact between the U-bolt and the water pipe, and between the water pipe and the bar. The water pipe and the entire waterer can easily be shifted in the direction transverse to the opposing points of contact. Large forces acting on the water pipe in the direction of the bars can easily shift the watering unit along the bars. This can cause the mounting unit to become loose or tilt. On the one hand, this entails a great risk of injury to the animals and, on the other hand, it can make it very difficult for the animals to drink.
The greatest difficulty arising in practice is that, when the waterer is mounted using the opposing points of contact, it can very easily be rotated about the longitudinal axis of the water pipe. This leads to a situation where the water valve lies against the wall of the animal housing facility or rotates beneath the bars of the animal housing facility into an adjacent area and is no longer accessible to the animals.
Furthermore, the height adjustment device of the known waterer is difficult to operate. The four nuts screwed onto the threads of the U-bolts must be loosened and then retightened after adjusting the water pipe.
The nuts must have very high tightening torques in order to prevent the water pipe from rotating about its longitudinal axis. The corrosion and contamination of this screw connection compounds the difficulty in loosening the nuts. Given the large number of waterers, an immense amount of work is involved in adjusting the height of the water valves.
In the case of pig breeding, for example, the water valves on a large number of waterers must be adjusted at short intervals. The rapid growth of the young animals, which start out with a weight of approx. 20 kg and leave the animal housing facility with a weight of approx. 125 kg, requires the correct setting of the height of the water valves above the floor of the housing facility. A water valve that is incorrectly set too low, for example, prevents the animals from obtaining enough water and causes high water losses.